Emotion recognition and physical activity in severe mental illness patients with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

Severe mental illness (SMI) and mild intellectual disability (MID) often co-occur and are both characterized by deficits in emotion recognition and low rates of physical activity (PA). This results in impaired social, cognitive and daily functioning. This study looked into the presence of an MID indication amongst SMI disorders and their differences in emotion recognition and physical activity (PA) compared to SMI patients without MID indications. With this additional knowledge, treatments could be tailored to the needs of patients which will contribute to more independence and effective reintegration. 47 inpatients (male n=37, female n=10, Mage=51.60, SDage=13.64) from the wards of a long term psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands were assessed with a screening tool for MID indications, an emotion recognition task and accelerometers. The findings present a high overall prevalence of MID indications (77%) in SMI patients. Furthermore, a higher likelihood of an MID indication corresponded with lower emotion recognition performance. No further differences in emotion recognition and PA were observed, with an exception of the emotion of disgust being significantly more difficult for patients with an MID indication. These findings advocate for the adjustment of treatment for SMI patients towards the level of understanding of MID to increase overall effectiveness. Moreover, staff should get additional courses in the guidance and treatment of MID patients to provide them with necessary tools to do so. Future research should focus on higher order levels of social functioning and factors contributing to increasing the PA-rate of SMI patients. With this additional knowledge, treatments could be improved, resulting in more independence and reintegration of SMI patients.